New Perspective
by secrethalfblood
Summary: Rebecca Potter has always had a rocky relationship with Sirius Black, and things between them don't get any easier when she comes to Hogwarts for her 7th year. Despite despising each other, they have one thing in common, her cousin James. But Sirius starts to suspect that Becca's hiding something. Something dark, and maybe, they have more in common than he thought.
1. Chapter 1

I scanned the platform, not nearly as excited for the start of my seventh year as I felt I should have been. The Hogwarts Express continued to blech steam over the people that were all jammed together, trying to get onto the train.

"See anything?" James asked adjusting his glasses and continuing to search. He was a tall skinny boy with messy black hair and hazel eyes that were distracted as he looked over the crowd.

"Since you asked me thirty seconds ago?" I asked having to keep myself from rolling my eyes. "No."

"Where is she?" he asked looking disappointed, and I tried not to sound too hopeful as I said.

"Maybe she changed her mind."

"No, I know she's here. She said would be. She wouldn't lie."

I glanced at him, an eyebrow raised and he grinned slightly.

"Well, she wouldn't lie to me."

'Well that's true.' I thought blandly. I wouldn't trust Becca as far as I could throw her, but if there was one person she'd do anything to see it was James. Still… part of me was hoping she wouldn't come. I didn't want to see Becca. Things were always such a nightmare with her, not that I could tell James. He put her on a pedestal. He'd never hear a word against her.

"Damn," he muttered looking at his watch. "Sirius, I gotta go. I'm supposed to give the prefects the new passwords. Do you mind looking for her?"

"Fine." I said sourly and he grinned.

"Thanks mate. I'll meet you back in the compartment later."

"Alright."

I watched as he made his way towards the front of the train and was swallowed by the crowd, staring at the place he vanished for a moment, then sighed, and turned to continue looking for Becca.

Rebecca Potter was James's cousin. She was as devious as James, which was probably why they got along so well, but a million times more annoying. I'd only ever met her a few times. Her parents had sent her to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts, but we'd run into each other when we'd both been visiting James over school holidays and whenever she was around, I couldn't get rid of her.

It was obvious she was obsessed with me, but even if she hadn't been related to my best friend she'd never be my type. She was a cry baby, she had a temper and worst of all, she never stopped talking. I tried to put up with her for as long as I possibly could, for James's sake, but finally, in my fifth year I'd had enough. I told her off and I wasn't very nice about it. I hadn't seen her since that night almost two years ago, and now that she was back, I was starting to regret some of the things I had said.

'It wasn't as if it wasn't true.' I thought a little guiltily continuing to push through the crowd. 'She had been super annoying.'

Even still, I wasn't looking forward to whatever karma had in store for me now that I had to see her again. So, resigned to my fate, I started to walk down the platform again ready to look for the short dorky girl with acne and glasses. What I found however, was far more appealing.

Standing by the magical barrier that led to the muggle world, was an extremely pretty girl with long dark hair that fell to her waist, hazel eyes, and an expression that looked somewhat familiar…

Forgetting about my promise to James, I walked over to the girl feeling a smile make its way onto my face.

"Hi." I said confidently stopping next to her. "Do I know you?"

She glanced up at me and looked a little annoyed.

"Very funny," she said rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't joking." I continued as she raised an eyebrow at me, clearly unimpressed. "I'm sure we've met before."

"You can stop now."

"I'm serious." I insisted and she looked even more irritated.

"I know that."

"No, I mean I seriously feel like I know you. Wait…" I frowned. "How do you know my name?"

The look she gave me was hard to explain. It was uncertain for a moment, but my confidence increased as slowly, she started to smile.

"You don't know who I am?" she asked questioningly stepping closer to me.

"Should I?" I asked playfully. "I think I'd remember someone who looks like you."

"Someone who looks like me eh?" she said and her smile grew, but it was sly. Not the kind of smile that I was used to from girls. While extremely attractive, there was something about her expression that made my stomach sink.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised." She continued with a feigned sigh. "After all what were the last words you said to me?"

My body turned to ice. Suddenly, I knew that grin.

"Oh right." Her voice was sickly sweet. "Who could ever like an ugly, annoying little troll like me?"

"Becca." I said in horror and she grinned again.

"Hi Sirius."

"You look… different."

At this she laughed.

"Merlin you're such a prat." She said between breaths. "Were you actually trying to hit on me?"

I felt my cheeks flush as anger shot through me.

"I don't know what you're laughing." I snapped. "It's what you always wanted right?"

It was her turn to blush and I found I took some satisfaction in it.

"Get over yourself." She said crossing her arms over her chest. "Where's James?"

"He had to go on the train." I said flatly and she looked disappointed.

"So he stuck me with you?"

"Yeah I'm just as thrilled about it as you are."

"Why did he have to go on the train?"

"He had to meet with the prefects."

At this she looked confused.

"Why?"

"You're as nosey as ever aren't you?" I asked still annoyed and she glared at me.

"And you're still a git." She snapped. "I guess neither of us have changed."

"I guess not." I said, glowering right back.

She looked as if she wanted to respond, but suddenly, someone shouted over the noise of the crowd and she was tackled into a hug.

"Becca!"

"Blimey James," she laughed and suddenly, she was wearing a genuine smile. "Let me breathe!"

He let go of her still beaming, but looked at me.

"Thanks for finding her mate."

"I thought you were supposed to be on the train." I said with a frown.

"I was but Lily said she would take over while I looked for Becs."

"Lily?" Becca asked with interest. "Is this _the_ Lily I've heard so much about?"

"Yep." James said brightly and she looked at him bemused.

"What were you doing with her? I thought she hated you."

"She _used_ to hate me." He said beaming. "But she's the Head Girl." He continued tapping a badge on the front of his robes. "So we sort of have to get along now."

"No way." Becca said looking at the badge, her mouth falling open in horror. "Who in their right mind would make you Head Boy?"

"Dumbledore." James answered with a shrug.

"Is he insane?"

He shrugged again.

"Maybe."

"Does this mean you're going to be all boring now?" Becca asked looking disappointed. "I expected to have a crazy year now that we're back together again."

"Oh relax Becs we'll have plenty of fun, but I've got to run." He turned to me. "Sirius, could you take her back to the compartment with the others?"

"Yeah, sure." I said reluctantly, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Thanks." he grinned. "I'll see you two later ok?"

"Alright." We said in unison and Becca waited before he was out of ear range before turning to me.

"So, you still do whatever he tells you to." She asked with a grin and a stab of anger went through me.

"Shut up Becca."

"I think it's cute." She said in a baby voice. "He's like the brother you always wanted."

"I said shut up." I snarled and she looked a little guilty as a tense silence passed between us.

"Sorry." She said eventually.

"Whatever, let's just get on the train."

She looked as if she wanted to say something more, but eventually she shrugged, grabbed her school trunk, and together we made our way off the platform.

"So what are you doing here Becca?" I asked as we pushed our way through the various students that were walking up and down the train.

Something of my anger must have creeped into my tone because when she spoke, hers was irritated.

"Merlin Sirius, don't go out of your way to make me feel welcome."

"That's not an answer to my question." I pressed continuing to make my way to the back of the train, Becca close behind me.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked. "I'm going to school."

"You don't go to Hogwarts." I said with a frown. "You go to Beauxbatons."

"Not anymore."

"Why not?" I asked glancing over my shoulder at her.

She didn't answer and it was hard to read her expression. Her face was smooth, devoid of emotion but something in her eyes made me suspicious.

"They kicked you out, didn't they?" I asked shrewdly and her eyes flashed.

"Shut up Sirius." She snapped and I felt a surge of satisfaction go through me as I smirked.

"What'd you do?"

"Who says I did anything?"

"Because it's you." I said turning back down the corridor.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I didn't answer this but privately thought there had to be a reason Becca was here, and knowing her, it wasn't an innocent one. She must have gotten into some sort of trouble. There was no other explanation why she'd just turn up now after all this time.

"Is it so hard to believe I just wanted to go to school with my cousin?" she asked when I didn't respond.

"If that was the case you would have done it before now."

I heard her make an irritated noise.

"Let's just get to the compartment and get this over with." She said darkly.

We walked in silence towards the back of the train, occasionally jostled by the other students when we bumped into them.

We finally stopped outside the very last compartment, where a short chubby boy with blonde hair and watery blue eyes was attempting to put his trunk on the luggage rack.

"Thank Merlin you're here." Peter said as I stepped into the compartment. "Can you help me with…" but his voice faded as his eyes landed on Becca. "Who is this?"

"Peter is Becca." I said gesturing towards Becca without looking at her. "And why don't you just use magic to lift the trunk?"

He went red and muttered something about not wanting to bother, but I knew better. Peter wasn't the best at magic. He often tried to avoid doing simple spells like this.

"Here." I said taking my wand out of my pocket and giving it a flick. Peter had to duck as his trunk swung up and landed itself in the luggage rack with a solid 'thunk'.

"So you're James's cousin?" Peter said looking at Becca with interest as I took a seat and felt my eyes narrow at the two of them.

"Yeah." She said smiling at him and he flushed an even deeper shade of red.

"You don't look anything like Sirius described." He said.

"Really?" she asked raising an eyebrow and glancing at me. "How was I described?"

"Well…"

"Shut up Peter." I said irritated and he looked a bit awkward but Becca threw me an annoyed look.

"What's got you in such a bad mood?"

"Nothing." I said not looking at her but out the window.

I could feel her eyes on me but refused to meet her gaze. Eventually I heard her and Peter start a conversation, and after a few minutes, I chanced a glance at Becca in the compartment's reflection in the window.

She really did look very different. Seeing her brought up so many emotions I wasn't exactly sure what I felt, but what I did know was that I wasn't happy she was here. It was going to be a long year.

Rpov

I felt a bit guilty for bringing up Sirius's brother, I knew it was a sensitive subject for him but the guilt didn't last long. Not when he was acting like such a brat. He'd never been able to handle people who forced him to deal with his emotions, and it looked as if that hadn't changed.

Sirius was exactly as I remembered him, tall, dark hair, gray eyes. Extremely handsome, with that indefinable air around him that all the popular kids had. As if being cool came so naturally to him, he didn't have to try. It was irritating. Almost as irritating as the fact that he was blatantly ignoring me as we waited for James to find the compartment. But if Sirius didn't want to talk to me I wasn't going to force him to. In fact, it suited me quite well if he didn't.

I continued to talk with his friend Peter while Sirius pouted and glared out the window. We'd just gotten on the subject of quidditch when the compartment door opened and James entered with a boy of average height, light brown hair, and honey colored eyes.

"Ah excellent. You found each other." James said brightly, flopping into the seat next to Sirius who was still staring out of the window. "What's up mate?"

"Nothing." Sirius said moodily without looking at him and I saw James raise his eyebrows, but eventually he shrugged and turned back to the boy who'd walked in with him.

"Right, Remus, this is my cousin Becca, Becca this is Remus." He said gesturing towards the boy.

"So you're James's cousin." He said with interest as he held out his hand for me to shake, which I took.

"That's me." I said grinning.

Now that I'd gotten a proper look at him, I saw he was rather attractive. Not in the devastatingly handsome without trying way that Sirius was, but he was nice to look at. He'd already changed into his school robes, and I noticed a prefect's badge was pinned to the front of them.

"So you're the good one of the bunch." I said grinning gesturing to the badge and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I guess if you want to put it that way…"

At this James let out a laugh.

"Oh please Becca, there's not an innocent person in this compartment, and that includes you."

"Says the Head Boy." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"How long are you going to hold that over my head?"

"Until you prove me wrong." I said and he grinned.

"I accept that challenge."

The next few hours I spent joking with James and listening to any and everything the boys would tell me about Hogwarts. I was excited to get to the castle and start my year with James, but there was just one problem. Sirius spent the whole journey in a huffy, irritable mood, and was raining on everyone's parade. Part of me wanted to hex him, but I knew I couldn't do it, not with James around at least.

I was just walking back from the bathroom where I'd changed into my robes, when the train jostled, and I bumped into a girl out in the corridor.

"Sorry." I said automatically.

"Well look what we have here."

I felt my blood go cold.

I looked up to see a tall girl with dark hair and arrogant good looks. She'd just stepped out of the compartment to my left and was smiling, but her eyes were cold as she slid the compartment door open farther, to reveal several boys sitting in the compartment. I didn't know much about Hogwarts yet, but from what James had said in his letters and what the boys had told me on the train so far, it was obvious that the green on their robes meant they were Slytherins.

"A blood traitor, oh so very alone." Her lower lip jutted out in a babying expression that no one would have believed. "You want to be careful Rebecca. Some people might not be so happy to see you here you know. Not after what happened with you and the mudblood."

"Shut up Bellatrix." I snarled, reaching for my wand. "Don't use that disgusting word around me."

"Now that isn't very nice." She said her voice carrying in a lazy drawl. "Where's your manners Potter?"

I ignored this and she grinned.

"You know I'm a little surprised to see you here." She continued derisively. "After what happened at your last school…"

I felt a pang of fear, cold as ice, go through me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said stiffly and she let out laugh.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Everyone knows. I'm just surprised you have the guts to show your face here that's all."

"Leave me alone."

"Does your cousin know?" she asked delicately and I froze.

"Shut up." I muttered quietly, looking away from her but feeling my teeth clench.

"He doesn't, does he?" she asked cruelly. "What a shame it would be if he were to find out…"

I lifted my wand.

"I said keep your mouth shut."

"Becca?"

I jumped and both Bellatrix and I looked over my shoulder to see Sirius walking down the corridor, frowning slightly.

"Becca what are you doing?"

But his eyes landed on my wand and he started to jog, looking concerned.

"What are you…" but his sentence faded when he spotted Bellatrix and anger crossed his features.

"What's going on?" he asked furiously.

"Nothing." I said lowering my wand. Now that I was no longer alone, Bellatrix looked less confident.

"I'll see you around blood traitor." she sneered backing into her compartment.

"Shut up Bellatrix." Sirius and I said in unison, and he looked at me in surprise.

She looked between us for a moment, something calculated in her eyes. She then smirked and shut the compartment door.

"You know my cousin?" Sirius asked looking down at me.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked ignoring his question to ask my own.

"I was looking for the food trolley. What was going on?"

"Nothing." I said trying to push passed him.

"Hold on a second."

He caught my hand.

On instinct, I turned with my wand raised, directing it at his heart and his eyes went wide.

"Let me go." I snapped and he released me.

"Blimey Becca." He said putting his hands in the air and giving me a strange look. "What is going on with you?"

I thought carefully about what I wanted to say, but before things could escalate, I heard.

"Oi! Becs!"

We both turned to see James walking down the corridor.

I quickly lowered my wand.

"Yeah?"

"I've been looking for you. You've been ages. Did you forget where our compartment was?"

"She-" Sirius started obviously about to explain what had happened with Bellatrix, but I elbowed him and quickly cut across his sentence with.

"Yeah, sorry." I gave him a sheepish grin and pretended to be embarrassed. "Guess I just got turned around."

"No problem." He said with an easy smile. "I guess it's a good thing you ran into Sirius."

"Yeah." I said making sure not to look at Sirius. I could feel his eyes on me and the last thing I wanted to do was talk. Especially to him.

"Well, let's head back." James said, he then looked at his friend. "Did you find the trolley?"

"No." Sirius said his voice quiet.

I couldn't resist, I looked at him anxiously but he didn't mention what had happened. I guess like me, he didn't want to talk about people like Bellatrix around James. Well, that was something at least.

"Too bad," James said shrugging, clearly oblivious to the tension passing between Sirius and I. "Oh well, we'll be there soon. You can eat at the feast."

"Yeah." Sirius agreed and we followed James down the train back to the compartment.

I didn't pay much attention to the boys' conversation as we finished the journey to Hogwarts. I caught random subjects between their laughter, quidditch, classes, girls. I contributed when James looked at me, but I tried to ignore Sirius, who didn't seem to be in much of a talking mood either. I could tell he had questions about what had happened between Bellatrix. Questions I didn't want to answer.

'Why did he have to run into me then?' I thought bitterly. 'Could the timing have been worse?'

I hoped he wouldn't pry. Sirius was pretty self-absorbed unless something involved his friends. I was hoping that this would shield me from too many questions as the train slowed to a stop outside Hogsmead station, but I was disheartened that it didn't.

James and Remus had gone ahead to help organize the younger students as they exited the train, and Peter had gotten lost in the swell of people moving towards the carriages that took us up to the school. Just as I stepped down onto the station platform, I felt something grab my shoulder and pull me away from the crowd.

"What?" I asked irritated turning to see Sirius looking down at me with suspicious eyes.

"What was going on with you and Bellatrix earlier?" he asked in an undertone so the people around us wouldn't hear us.

"Nothing." I said avoiding his gaze.

"That didn't seem like nothing."

"I don't see how it's any of your business." I countered, glaring at him this time. "Or why you'd care."

This clearly irritated him.

"I don't care." He snapped. "But you're James's cousin. He wouldn't like it if you were messing with Bellatrix and her friends."

"It's not really James's business." I said coldly and I could tell this surprised him, but I went on the offensive before he could react. "And it's not yours. So butt out Sirius. Leave me alone."

His expression darkened.

"Fine, if that's what you want. I'm only too happy to."

I glared at him.

"Good."

He gave me one last look of disgust then turned to make his way towards the carriages, not bothering to look back to see if I was following. I stood there, watching him go feeling anger and fear pulse through me along with the faintest twinge of regret.

'Don't start with that.' I thought irritated with myself then started following the rest of the students after Sirius.

'Why would he care?' I thought savagely as I was jostled by the crowd.

'He doesn't.' My thoughts continued in fury. 'He even said he didn't.'

Anger burned through me but still I couldn't dispel the tiniest bit of regret, as I realized that part of me still wished that he did.

"Get a grip Becca." I muttered to myself so softly I knew no one, despite the fact we were packed tightly on the platform, would hear me.

I knew the only reason Sirius gave any semblance of a damn about me was because of James. If James wasn't in the picture, Sirius would want nothing to do with me. Well, he still didn't want anything to do with me, but at least he wasn't overt about it with James around.

I shook my head but forced these thoughts from my mind as I spotted the boys waiting by a carriage, they weren't helpful to anyone. James waved to catch my attention and I put on a smile, ready to force it for the rest of the night.

The feast went better than I expected. I was sorted into Gryffindor and I spent most of dinner talking to James, Remus, and Peter. I could feel Sirius watching me occasionally, obviously still wondering about Bellatrix, but I ignored him.

At the end of the night, I found myself in my dormitory, with four other girls, all seventh years and Gryffindors as well.

I'd just put on my pajamas when one of them, a pretty girl with long red hair and bright green eyes came up to me.

"Hey, it's Rebecca, right?" she asked and I nodded. "You're James's cousin."

"Yeah." I said noticing two of the girls across the room, both blonde, turn to look at me with obvious interest.

"I'm Lily." She said kindly holding her hand out to shake.

"So, you're the famous Lily Evans." I said with a grin and she looked at me, obviously confused.

I felt my smile grow.

"James talks about you a lot." I explained and the girl on the bed behind her laughed as Lily flushed bright red.

"Shut up Mary." Lily mumbled at the girl and I looked at her.

She had long curly brown hair and bright blue eyes that were looking at Lily with amusement.

"This is Mary," Lily said obviously noticing me look at the girl. "Mary MacDonald. And those two are Tess and Tanya Sarley."

The two blonds waved politely. It was obvious they were related, though the girl on the left had bright blue eyes and the girl on the right had brown eyes.

"I'm Tess." The girl with blue eyes said smiling.

"I'm Tanya." The other one said with an almost identical grin.

Both girls were extremely pretty and seemed good natured, though I could tell they weren't as close to Lily as Mary was.

"So." Tess said giving a shrewd look. "You're James's cousin."

She'd stated it as a fact, not as a question and I wondered where she was going with this.

"Yeah." I said cautiously.

"So that means you know Sirius." Tanya said eagerly.

Lily groaned and Mary rolled her eyes.

"I guess." I said with a shrug and feeling a frown appear on my face. "I haven't spent that much time with him."

"Yeah but you know him, right?" Tanya pressed.

"A little." I said started to feel a little uncomfortable with the way that they were looking at me and wondering why they were suddenly giggling. "Why?"

"The twins are obsessed with Sirius." Lily explained.

"What's he like?" Tess said ignoring Lily and Mary's exasperated looks.

"I dunno," is said definitely uncomfortable now. "You've had classes with him. You probably know him better than I do."

"He never talks to us." Tess sighed.

"He actually pays attention to you." Tanya said a little wistfully and I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"He kept looking at you all through dinner. Everyone saw." Tanya said enviously.

I didn't know what to say to this so I said nothing at all, instead I pretended to continue unpack my trunk without really seeing what I was taking out.

"So?" they asked in unison and I looked back at them.

"So what?"

"What is he like?" Tess continued eagerly and I turned away from them, uncertain what to say. How could I describe Sirius in something as simple as words? So many feelings bubbled to the surface when I thought of him, that I didn't know how to react. Anger, bitterness, frustration… and something else.

I shook my head and forced them away. I wasn't doing this again.

"Honestly...He's a bit of a prat." I muttered.

Next to me, Lily and Mary laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Spov

The feast was not a fun experience for me. I was stuck next to James and Rebecca, who of course had been sorted into Gryffindor, the whole night, hearing them catch up while in a foul mood myself. Why did she have to come to Hogwarts? She always ruined everything. Now she was going to ruin my whole year, but I couldn't say anything about it. I knew James would never hear a word against her.

All and all, it was a relief when we spotted Becca the next morning in the Great Hall, sitting with Lily and a curly haired brunette I thought was named Mary for breakfast. It was obvious she'd made friends with them last night in her dormitory. Good. I needed some time away from her.

It was mad how different she looked now, but I guess I wasn't sure what I was supposed to expect. It had been a long time since I'd seen her.

She laughed at something Lily said, and I noticed several boys looking over at her, obviously wondering who the pretty new girl was.

'Pretty.' I thought tersely. It was ridiculous that that would be her label. This was Becca after all. If any of those boys that were sneaking glances at her now knew what she was really like…

"You have a really ugly look on your face." Remus said as we sat down in front of a huge plate of sausages and I realized I'd been staring at Becca.

"Yeah what's up with you mate?" James asked as our schedules were handed to us and immediately the others started comparing classes. "You've been in a bad mood since we left London."

I didn't respond to this, but made myself a plate and looked at my class schedule.

"Excellent." James said beaming as he glanced at his own. "I've got Arithmancy first. I'll get to see Evans. What have you lot got first?"

"Muggle studies." I responded.

"Divination." Answered Peter.

"I'll be with you in Arithmancy." Remus said.

"What have you all got next?" James asked.

"Potions." Remus and I said in unison.

"Me too."

"I'll be in care of magical creatures." Peter said disappointed, but brightened when he glanced at our time tables and said. "But it looks like we all have a free period after lunch together. Right before Transfiguration."

"Sounds good." James said happily putting his schedule in his bag.

A shadow passed over the table and we all looked up to see that the morning mail had arrived.

A barn owl dropped a copy of the 'Daily Prophet' in front of Remus which he quickly disappeared behind, while James's eagle owl landed in front of him.

"Excellent." He said removing the letter and the package that was attached.

In the package was the small pouch of money his parents always sent him at the start of each term, along with some homemade pastries and cakes.

"There's some for you too." James said tossing me a small parcel of food which I easily caught. "Mum and Dad say hello," he continued as he scanned the letter. "Asked how you're doing. Oi! Becs!"

He waved his arm to attract Becca's attention. She looked at him, breaking from her conversation with the girls.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Sweets from Mum!"

She grinned as he tossed her portion of the package over the heads of a few first years. She caught it, gave him a thumbs up, then went back to talking to the girls from her dormitory.

"Why'd your Mum make Becca food?" I asked frowning, wondering why Becca didn't seem to have any mail.

"Dunno." James said shrugging but seeming untroubled by it. "You know how my Mum is."

"Yeah." I said frowning.

I was used to getting little presents and sometimes letters from the Potters, I knew that they wanted to include me seeing as I was no longer on speaking terms with my family, but why would she bother giving Becca anything?

As if of their own accord, my eyes traveled across the hall, towards the Slytherin table, but I quickly looked away.

Looking for anything to distract me, I glanced down the table, back at Becca.

It was weird. James's parents were always sending him owls and treats, making sure he was ok at school. One would even go as far as to say they were over involved. You'd think Becca's parents would have wanted to check in on her. See how her first day at school was going, but it didn't look as if she'd received any post.

I pondered this for the rest of breakfast, wondering what was up with her. And what was with her and Bellatrix yesterday? From the way she'd yelled at her it was almost as if they'd met before, and when she'd pulled her wand on me… It was like she thought I was going to attack her. What was that about?

These thoughts preoccupied me all the way to the muggle studies classroom, where I turned to take my spot in the back of the class only to find my usual seat was taken.

"Hi Sirius." Rebecca said with a smile I didn't trust.

"Are you following me?" I asked suspiciously and she raised an eyebrow.

"You're still as arrogant as you ever were." She sighed.

"That's not an answer to my question." I said with a frown. "What are you doing here?"

"Preparing for my first class."

"Why on earth are you taking muggle studies?"

"I can't further my education?" she asked innocently, but her smile turned wicked as she continued. "No need to ask why you took this subject. I'm guessing your parents weren't happy when they found out, which suited you just fine."

"Shut up Becca." I snarled. "And get out of my spot."

She let out a laugh but it was humorless.

"I'm not moving."

"I always sit here."

"Then get here earlier next time." She said delicately, grabbing her textbook from her bag, setting it on the desk and flipping through the first few pages.

"Why does James like you again?" I asked her sourly, but dropping my bag and falling into the seat next to hers.

"I'm just lovable. And who said you could sit next to me?"

"You are in my spot."

She rolled her eyes as the room filled up around us. The bell rang and the Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Kline, stepped into the room.

"Alright class." He started and we all looked to the front of the room. He was a tall thin man with short brown hair, dark eyes, and a young face. "Take a look at the board." He continued tapping the board with his wand and the warm up assignment appeared on it.

"As some of you might have noticed." He said turning to face the class. "We have a new student in our midst."

Immediately everyone turned to the back row to look at Becca. I noticed again that several boys were looking at her with interest, and I found this only irritated me further.

"I expect you all to make her feel welcome." He said and the class all turned to look back at him, but occasionally, a person or two glanced in our direction.

"Hear that Sirius?" Becca asked in an undertone, smirking as the professor went to sit at his desk. "You have to be nice to me."

I ignored her, and started on the warm up.

The class took forever to pass, but one thing did surprise me.

"Where did you learn so much about muggles?" I asked Rebecca as we stepped out into the corridor. She'd finished our class work early, before anyone else had, and had already started on our homework, an essay about electricity, and had it already half-finished without referencing the textbook once before the bell signaled the end of class.

"Oh, are you talking to me now?" she asked sounding a little amused and I grimaced.

I guess that response was fair, I had ignored her all class.

"Yes." I said annoyed and her smile grew. I knew it was at my expense.

"Why are you so interested?"

I shrugged.

"Such a compelling argument." She said with sarcasm, but she laughed slightly.

"Must you always be so irritating?"

"It's what you expect." She said shrugging. "I wouldn't want to disappoint you."

I was surprised to find I'd let out a laugh at this, even it was devoid of humor.

"Well that's very considerate of you."

Another smile. Her mood was strange today. She seemed to be enjoying my discomfort around her. I guess it was better than yesterday. I'd take this over hostility.

"So, you going to answer my question?"

"I just don't see why it matters to you." she said and I frowned.

I found I didn't have a response for that.

"Do I need a reason?"

The look she gave me was suspicious.

"James isn't here Sirius," she said, her tone carefully blank. "You don't have to pretend to care about me. Not that you try that hard even when he's near."

She'd said it casually, as if this meant nothing to her, but something about her tone wasn't quite right. There was something behind it, but I couldn't quite pick out what it was.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" I asked ignoring this and her eyes narrowed.

"No."

Instantly I felt anger flood through me.

"Why do you have to be so difficult all the time?" I asked scowling and she shrugged.

"Because I don't really like you." There wasn't any animosity in her tone. She'd stated it like a fact. "I enjoy frustrating you."

"Could you be any more annoying?" I asked her, wishing to would, but I was infuriated when her expression remained calm. I had a feeling she knew it too.

"Yes." She replied easily.

"Hard to believe." I muttered and she shrugged.

"Believe what you want. I don't really care."

I wasn't sure why, but this stung. Immediately I went on the offensive looking for something that I knew would bother her.

"Man, you sure know how to hold a grudge." I said slowing and looking down at her. The students in the busy corridor moved around us and she looked up at me. "All this just because I wouldn't go out with you? That's a little pathetic."

I expected her to explode with anger. I would have liked that, to see some of the frustration she was causing me to break through the careful façade she was presenting. So that other people could see the person I knew, who she really was, not who she was pretending to be now. But she didn't.

Instead, she stopped and looked up at me, her face as blank as ever.

"You think someone like you is that important to me?" she asked with distaste evident in her tone and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Someone like me?" I asked confused. "What does that mean?"

It wasn't that long ago that she was obsessed with someone like me.

She didn't answer, she shook her head and continued walking, slowly filtering into the sea of students moving to their next classes. I stared after her, frozen in shock. What was wrong with her? This was not the girl that I remembered at all. What had happened?

And then something came back to me.

"What was up between you and Bellatrix?" I called after her, still not moving and attracting the attention of several other people in the hall.

She stopped, just as she was about to disappear into the crowd and turned. The look in her eyes was hard to read. It was almost wary.

"Why didn't you tell James?" I asked, and finally I saw something.

An expression flashed across her features before she could hide it. I wasn't sure if it was anger or fear. I suddenly remembered how she'd looked at Bellatrix yesterday, her eyes cold and hard with fury. It was obvious she knew who she was, what my cousin was like, though I had no idea how.

People continued to move around us, what seemed like in slow motion as I concentrated on her, trying to read her expression.

"Why do you care?" she asked harshly then turned and walked away without looking back.

I thought about this, and I found again I had no answer for her. I didn't know why I cared, only that none of this made sense. The Becca I knew and the version of her that had turned up this year at Hogwarts were two completely different people. Why was she even here? How did she know Bellatrix?

I watched as Becca disappeared between the other students and felt uncertainty spread through me. Where was the nerdy little girl I knew? I wasn't exactly sure if I missed her and her obsession with me, but at least she made sense then. I knew what to do with her. But this new Becca… Something was definitely wrong.

Frowning, I followed her towards the dungeons for potions knowing Bellatrix would be there. Would either of them acknowledge what had happened yesterday? Or would Becca manage to keep everything hushed up like she obviously wanted to?


	3. Chapter 3

Bpov

I walked as quickly as I could to the dungeons, hoping to put some space between Sirius and I before we got to our potions class.

'Why wouldn't he leave this alone?' I thought angrily as I weaved in and out of the students, barely noticing them. 'This is none of his business."

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts as I entered the potions room, trying to ignore the eyes of the Slytherins to my left that I could feel on me.

I was relieved when I spotted Lily sitting at the front of the class.

"Hey." She said smiling at me as I dropped my bag at her desk and took the seat next to hers.

"Hey."

She frowned.

"Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked distracted, my mind still in other places as the class around us continued to fill.

"I dunno," she said continuing to look worried. "You have a weird look on your face. Like something upset you, are you sure you're alright?"

"Oh." I said, then shook my head for a second time. "Yeah, I'm fine. Guess I'm just a little overwhelmed on my first day."

"Yeah, the castle can be pretty intimidating." She nodded. "I remember when I first got here…"

She launched into a story about how she'd gotten lost in her first week of classes several years ago, but I was only half paying attention. I'd glanced over to the table of Slytherins, and saw they were looking at me, a few of them whispering.

I quickly looked away and laughed when I realized the story was over.

Lily smiled.

"Don't worry you'll get used to Hogwarts in no time." She said encouragingly as more students entered the classroom.

"Oh good," Lily said standing when she realized it was James and his friends, and walking towards them. He looked over his shoulder, obviously wondering who Lily was looking at. Then, realizing no one was behind him, he stared at her in surprise.

"What?" she asked raising an eyebrow as he continued to give her a wary expression.

"Nothing." He said cautiously. "It's just, you've never said it's good to see me."

She rolled her eyes.

"We've got to schedule the prefect duties." She said in a business-like tone. "It's one of our jobs as Head Boy and Girl."

"I know that."

"Well, when do you want to do it?"

"I've already done it."

This seemed to surprise her, because she paused for a second, confused.

"You… already did it?"

"Yeah." James said shrugging. "Last night after the feast. I had to make sure they didn't conflict with my quidditch training schedule."

"Oh." She said and I could tell she was impressed despite herself. "Well, can I look at them?"

"Don't worry." He said in a quelling tone as Remus and Sirius took seats behind Lily and I, and started setting up their stations. "I didn't schedule all our times together."

I noticed Peter wasn't with them in this class. I glanced at Sirius but he seemed to be ignoring me.

"I wasn't." Lily said looking as if she was trying not to laugh, "I just wanted to double check. You got a problem with someone looking over your work?"

"No." James shrugged. "But I wouldn't be too worried about it, I have been managing the team schedule for years." He said tapping his chest where the quidditch captain's badge rested on his robes next to his Head Boy's badge.

Nevertheless, he reached into his bag and gave her a piece of parchment that was covered in time tables.

"Speaking of quidditch." He said turning to me. "We're having tryouts this weekend. We need a new keeper, are you interested?"

"Sure." I said shrugging. "There's just one problem."

"What's that?"

"I don't have a broom."

"So?" James asked waving this away like it was nothing. "Just buy one."

"You know my parents don't give me money."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sirius look at me but I didn't take my eyes off James.

"True." James said with a frown, but almost instantly it cleared. "Well, I'll buy you one then."

"James," I started in horror. "You don't have to-"

"Don't worry about." He said airily. "What's a broomstick between family members?"

I saw several people give him an incredulous look and I knew why. James was a little out of touch when it came to money. Probably because he had too much of it. But broomsticks were expensive, and here he was offering to drop tons of galleons just so I could have one for trials.

"Seriously James, I'll figure something out. You don't have to buy me one."

"I don't have to do anything." He said grinning. "I want to. What happened to your other one anyways?"

This was a question I didn't want to answer, luckily, I didn't have to. The bell rang and the potions professor walked into the room.

"Alright, alright." He said as the class quieted and we all took our seats. He was an enormous man, and if I remembered his name from my class list, his name was Slughorn. "That's enough chatter everyone. Today we'll be reviewing our antidotes, so if you'll turn to chapter three in your books…"

I opened my text book, and started to get to work.

I could feel a pair of eyes on me and somehow I knew they were Sirius's. I took no notice of this and bent lower over my book, prepared to ignore him for the rest of the lesson.

All and all, my first day at Hogwarts went relatively well. The teachers seemed alright, and I'd managed not to get detention. I was just walking back to the common room after dinner with Lily and Mary when the subject turned towards a topic I would have rather avoided.

"So what was it like at Beauxbatons?" Mary asked curiously as we stepped through the portrait hole.

There weren't many people here, seeing as dinner was still in session, and we managed to grab a few chairs by the fire.

"It wasn't that interesting." I said with a shrug. "Just a school."

"Yeah, but I mean, it must have been different." She continued with an eager expression. "I mean it's in a whole different country. What were your classmates like?"

"They were fine."

"Did you have a boyfriend?" Mary asked and I felt my blood go cold.

"You don't have to answer that." Lily said rolling her eyes, looking exasperated at the forward question. Apparently, neither of them had noticed my reaction.

"No, it's ok." I said relaxing into a smile. "Sort of."

"Sort of?" They asked in unison, looking confused.

"Yeah," I said pretending to be interested in the flames behind the grate, so I didn't have to look at them. "He was kind of a jerk, but my parents approved of him."

"Ah." Lily said delicately while Mary continued on.

"Well, was there a boy that you did like?"

"One." I said grinning and finding it easier to look back at them. "He was in my potions class."

"Did you ever go out with him?" Mary asked with a smile.

I shook my head.

"No, we were just friends."

"Why didn't you ask him out?" she said indignantly.

"It's complicated…" I said, scratching the back of my head not looking at them again.

"You don't seem the kind of person to care about something like that." Mary pressed and I felt my heart sink a little.

Of course, she'd think that. That's what I wanted people here to think. So why did it feel like I was lying?

"Why don't we change the subject?" Lily said, clearly noticing my discomfort this time.

We talked about random things until Lily suggested we go to the Library to start work on our charms essay.

Mary and I agreed, so we set up at a table and pulled out our books.

I'd been working for about twenty minutes when I felt a gaze land on me. I looked up, and felt a shock go through me when my eyes met with a pair of familiar gray ones.

Regulus's eyes went wide, and his cheeks flushed, obviously embarrassed he'd been caught staring. He looked very much like his brother, though not nearly as attractive, his dark hair neater than Sirius's, and his persona more timid. I was half tempted to wave, but his eyes darted to the Gryffindor colors on my robes and he quickly looked away.

"What are you staring at?" Lily asked curiously looking over her shoulder, looking past Regulus towards the opposite end of the Library.

"Nothing." I said shaking my head and turning back to my essay.

'Well, what did you expect?' I thought as I wrote out the start of my second paragraph, hardly paying attention to what made it on to the parchment. 'He chose his side.'

There might have been a time where Regulus and I could have been friends, but I knew now that would never happen. He and I had gone down very different paths, and I knew his was one he probably would never be able to back out of.

Still…

I glanced back at him unable to help thinking that he was a nice kid. He'd always been polite to me when other people… well, hadn't.

I found myself wishing things were different, that I didn't live in a time where people who knew me would have to hate me or at least pretend to.

'You made your choice.' I thought uncertainly looking away from Regulus as I turned back to my parchment. 'There's no going back now.'

Spov

Overall, the first week back went about as well as it could have with Becca at Hogwarts. For the most part we ignored each other, acting civilly when around James, but one thing did bother me.

"Have you noticed Becca doesn't get any mail?" I asked Remus and Peter as we walked to the Great Hall. It was Friday morning, and James had gone down before us to talk to McGonagall about quidditch trials tomorrow. It was the first opportunity I had to express this frustration.

"What?" Peter asked while Remus raised an eyebrow.

Outside the windows, the sky was a perfect blue, and I knew this weekend would be simply glorious, but the weather didn't improve my mood.

"She hasn't gotten a letter all week." I said frowning. James's parents had sent him a letter every day since our return to school, but so far, Becca hadn't had a single bit of post.

"What a strange thing to keep track of." Remus muttered while Peter gave me a strange look.

"Why do you care if Becca's parents write her or not?"

"I don't." I said disgruntled. "It's just weird. Just like everything about her coming here. I mean why would she leave school in her final year? Didn't she have friends back at her other school? And her parents don't write her, she never talks about them or her old school. You'd think she wants to act like it never happened."

"Maybe she does want to act like it didn't happen." Remus said shrugging as we sat at the Gryffindor table, taking opposite seats from each other. "You don't know what's been going on with her. You haven't seen her for almost two years, but frankly I don't see why it's any of your business."

"You're getting a little obsessed with her." Peter agreed giving me an apologetic look.

"Besides, who said her parents are even like James's." Remus continued sliding a couple of eggs on to his plate and reaching for a bit of toast. "Maybe they're not, maybe it's not unusual for them not to write to her so often."

"Yeah, maybe." I muttered reaching for the coffee.

I brooded on this for a good five minutes while the post flew in. True to form, Becca didn't get a letter, but it didn't seem to bother her. She chatted animatedly with her new friends and soon I found the seat next to me occupied by James.

"Well, it was tough." He said pulling a bowl of cereal closer to him and adding milk. "I had to pay a mountain of rush fees, but Becca's broom should be here in time for trials tomorrow."

"You seriously bought her a broom?" Peter asked his eyes going wide as Remus disappeared behind this morning's edition of the 'Prophet'.

"Of course, I did." James said dismissively. "She's an excellent keeper. We need her on the team, and that's not going to happen if she's riding one of the school brooms."

"Just how much money do your parent's give you to spend?" I asked James and he grinned.

"More than Becca's that's for sure."

"Yeah what's with that?" I asked frowning. Surely Becca's parents were just as wealthy as James's, so, why was James flush with galleons whereas Becca, it seemed, was not?

"I dunno," James shrugged. "I don't know much about my aunt and uncle to be honest. I don't see them much."

"Why?" Peter asked curiously and James shrugged again.

"My Dad and hers don't really get along. My parents tried to hide it from me but they stopped coming over for Holidays a long time ago. Eventually they just sent Becca on her own, you know, before she stopped coming altogether."

I looked at Becca, wondering what this all meant, when I was surprised to find that a late owl had come in, and had landed in front of her.

She looked surprised, but took the letter from its beak and started reading it. Her expression was neutral, but I saw her eyes grew harder with each line that they scanned.

When she looked up, her friends obviously asked who it was from.

She smiled and waved them off, but I noticed the hand that was holding the letter had crushed it.

She shoved it into the side pocket of her bag, and returned to her friends, with a forced smile that seemed only obvious to me. Maybe it was because of all the times I'd had to do it after reading a letter from home.

Immediately I felt a strong desire to read the letter. I knew it was insane, that was Becca's private mail, but for some reason I didn't care. I wanted to know what it was in that letter that had cracked the façade Becca had been putting on since the moment she stepped on to the platform at King's Cross Station.

"We'd better get going." James's voice said brining me back to the present and I looked up to see the others standing, obviously getting ready to walk to class.

I quickly finished my breakfast and stood, well aware I had Muggle Studies next, leaving me alone with Becca for a double period.

Not looking forward to this, I took my time walking out of the hall. In fact I was so slow, that Becca actually passed me on her way out.

Something fell from her bag as she walked by, still talking to her friends. I was just about to call after her to let her know she'd dropped something, when I recognized the crumpled bit of parchment. It was the letter she'd received this morning.

I quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking. Everyone was all too distracted trying to make it out of the hall and to their first class of the day. I bent down and picked up the letter, eagerly scanning its contents, but what I saw made my stomach feel sick.

 _We've been informed you've been sorted into Gryffindor._

 _Stay away from the blood traitor and don't make friends._

 _Don't embarrass the family any more than you already have._

 _You're enough of a disappointment already._

 _~Your Mother_

I stared at the letter in disbelief, hardly able to believe what I had just read.

"The blood traitor?" I asked quietly, but I knew there was only one person that could be. James.

I read the letter again, still trying to process the words on the parchment. This couldn't be right, James's parents and Becca's were related. I knew that they were pureblood, but James's parents would never say anything like that. It couldn't be. The Potters weren't like this. I'd met them.

'You've never met Becca's parents.' A small voice said in the back of my head and I remembered what Remus said, about Becca's parents, and how they might not be like James's. But though I'd never met Becca's parents before, the words in the letter were horribly familiar.

Suddenly, I was having flashbacks. I was mentally transported back to my first years at Hogwarts, receiving my own letters, before I'd run away. All the anger and shame I'd felt came rushing back to me, and suddenly, I felt my hands trembling. But this wasn't possible. I didn't want to believe it. Because if anything in this letter was to believed, Becca's parents weren't like James's. They were just like mine.


	4. Chapter 4

Spov

Friday passed in a confused blur. I didn't know what to do about the letter I'd read. Every time I saw Becca I wanted to talk to her, to ask her about her parents, but I knew confronting her about what they'd written would be less dangerous than poking a sleeping hippogriff.

I wanted to pretend I didn't know what I knew, like I'd never read the letter but it was impossible. No longer did I see Becca as the annoying little girl who used to follow me around, or as the irritating transfer student who'd come to Hogwarts to make my life miserable. Now when I looked at her, I saw someone who'd spent her whole life trapped in a family with which she didn't belong. Someone who was alone.

Someone like me.

"You are acting so weird." Peter said as we sat in the common room working on various assignments.

We'd come back from dinner about a half an hour ago, and while I was supposed to be outlining a chapter out of my potions textbook, I'd barely written anything down. I'd been watching Becca who was talking with her dormitory mates by the fire.

"Me?" I asked and looking away from Becca to see that he, James, and Remus were all staring at me.

"You've been distracted all day." Remus said but James took over.

"What's wrong with you mate?"

"Nothing." I said shaking my head and turning a page.

"Did something happen?" James pressed and I looked at him uncertain what to say. Surely James knew about Becca's parents, right? So why had he never motioned it to me? If anyone could understand her situation it would be me, you'd think he'd make the connection. But even as I looked at him, I knew there couldn't be any possible way that James knew about what Becca was going through. James loved his cousin far too much to stand by if he thought she was unhappy.

"No." I said shaking my head again. "Guess I've just been thinking."

"About what?" Peter inquired while Remus raised an eyebrow.

I noticed him glance at Becca and my heart skipped a beat, but he remained silent.

"About our next adventure." I said forcing a grin. Peter smiled as well and I saw James smirk. "You realize we've been back nearly a week and we haven't planned anything? Not even a quick trip to the village. It's our seventh year." I continued as my worry was eclipsed by the familiar eager feeling planning mischief always brought. "We've got to live it up while we can lads."

"When is the next full moon anyways?" Peter asked and Remus shot him a look.

"Keep it down." He muttered but James laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh relax Moony." He said grinning. "No one heard, but as a matter of fact I think he's right." James said nodding towards me. "We haven't had any fun since we got back. We should plan something. Just not tonight."

"Why not?" I asked and he gave me a strange look.

"Padfoot, mate, have you forgotten? We've got trials tomorrow."

"Oh, right." I said without much interest.

"Hopefully Becca's broom arrives on time. I paid a mountain of rush fees but still, it'll be close." He said looking a bit anxious but then his expression cleared. "Ah well, even on a school broom she'd beat anyone who turns out."

"You seem pretty confident," Remus said and I was glad of an excuse to look in Becca's direction with the others.

"I should be, she's an excellent keeper. Isn't she Sirius?"

"Yeah," I agreed truthfully. "She's pretty good."

"Speaking of which, oi! Becs!"

Becca and her friends turned to look in our direction.

"Don't stay up too late tonight." James warned. "You've got to be fresh for trials tomorrow."

"Ok Mum," Becca said rolling her eyes while her friends giggled.

She winked and turned back to her conversation and James chuckled slightly before returning to his essay.

We continued to work over the next hour before James and Remus had to meet with the prefects and the Head Girl, leaving me alone with Peter.

"What do you keep staring at?" he asked after another hour.

"What?" I asked as he looked over his shoulder, to where Becca and the girls were sitting.

"You keep staring over there, why?" he questioned looking back me.

"I didn't realize I was doing it." I said honestly. I hadn't been aware of staring at Becca until Peter had pointed it, and now that he did, it became glaringly obvious to me that she hadn't noticed at all.

I wasn't sure why, but this didn't sit right with me. Surely she'd notice eventually, if I kept looking at her. She had to be aware of me at least a little, she knew about my parents, she knew that we had some sort of connection.

But she didn't. Becca didn't look at me once.

"What is going on with you?" Peter asked in exasperation and I looked back at my book.

"I think I'm just going to do this tomorrow." I said shutting it and rolling up my pitiful excuse for an outline. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"Err, alright." He said sounding confused and I stood to walk up to the dormitory.

I'd just made it to the stairs when a slight movement caught my eye. Becca and her friends had gotten to their feet as well, and were making their way towards the stairs. She glanced in my direction and her eyes met mine.

I couldn't tell what she was thinking and she looked away, her expression impossible to read.

I watched her walk to her dormitory before going up to my own.

I got ready for bed, my mind still scattered, but when I finally laid down, I found I couldn't sleep. The letter was still on my mind.

I just had to act like I didn't know. That was it, so why did it seem so difficult?

I rolled over shutting my eyes, trying not to think of Becca and what I knew about her now.

The idea that I might be able to talk to her about it someday was as thrilling as it was frightening. What would she do if she found out I'd read her letter? Curse me probably. This wasn't any of my business and yet… part of me wondered if she'd want to talk. I'd never been able to talk about this with anyone, well, not someone who really understood what I'd been through. My friends were great, but there were just somethings you didn't get unless it had happened to you.

What would she say?

Would she want to talk about it, or just shut me out like she seemed so determined to do this year? I felt myself frown as the thought crossed my mind. I didn't like the sound of that, even though I knew it was almost suicidal to confront Becca about it, part of me liked the idea of having someone to talk to. Of having someone be there for me and to be there for them.

'You've lost it.' I thought to myself rolling on to my back and staring at the dark ceiling of the dormitory. 'This is Becca we're talking about. She doesn't do compassion, besides she hates you, and you hate her.'

But did I hate her?

I wondered this putting my hands behind my head on my pillow.

Could I really hate someone who'd been through the same things that I had? Who had a family like mine, but hadn't turned into one of them? Could I really force myself to do that?

I didn't think so.

Rpov

 _I'd always had trouble sleeping at James's house. I sighed and rolled over, hugging my pillow closer to me and pulling my blanket over my shoulder. Outside thunder rumbled and my room lit up as lightning darted across the sky. Rain hit the window and I tried to focus on the sound, hoping it would help me sleep._

 _I didn't know how long I laid there, but just as I could feel myself nodding off, there was a loud 'crack' and something fell on to my bed._

 _I screamed and kicked the figure, reaching for my wand on my nightstand as a light turned on in the hall._

 _My finger closed around my wand, but a figure grabbed my wrist and I let out another shout._

 _"Becca, calm down, it's me!"_

 _"Sirius?" I asked in surprise, as a pair of stormy gray eyes met mine._

 _The door burst open and in spilled James and his parents, along with the light from the hall._

 _"Mate?" James asked in astonishment as his parents looked at each other, in obvious confusion "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"_

 _"At three in the morning." I added feeling my cheeks go red when I realized how close he was standing._

 _"I, er, I got into a fight with my parents." He said looking at James and then at my aunt and uncle. "I was hoping I could stay here for a bit."_

I woke up suddenly and sat up in a panic, before I recognized my surroundings. That's right. I was at Hogwarts, I wasn't fifteen anymore and this wasn't James's house.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to forget the dream.

'What was that about?' I wondered.

I looked around the dormitory to see the other girls were still asleep. It was Saturday, I'd survived my first week at my new school and I had trials later. Sirius would be there of course, not that I was looking forward to that. Jeez, it seemed I couldn't even go to sleep without him butting in.

I got out of bed, wincing as my feet hit the cold stone floor and made my way towards the showers to start getting ready for the day.

Perhaps the reason Sirius was invading my dreams was because he'd been the last thing on my mind before I'd fallen asleep.

He'd been acting so weird yesterday, barely talking at me, but I felt his eyes on me constantly. I tried to act like I didn't notice it but I did. I found it disconcerting. Two years ago, I was practically begging for his undivided attention but now… Now it felt weird. Something about it was off, like something had changed between us even though I had no idea what I could have been.

A half an hour later I was dressed and making my way to the common room with my quidditch bag over my shoulder.

I had just made it down the stairs and half way to the portrait hole, intending to get an early breakfast when a voice spoke from across the room.

"Becca."

"It is too early for this." I said with a groan but turned to see Sirius sitting by the fire, looking as if he was waiting for something. It looked as if he hadn't gotten much sleep.

I expected the familiar irritated expression to cross his features but it didn't. I didn't know what to make of the way he was looking at me.

"What do you want?" I snapped, ready to arm myself with a preemptive strike, but his tone was sincere with what he said next.

"Look, I want to talk to you."

"About what?" I asked my eyes narrowing in suspicion.

But before he could respond, the portrait hole opened and James stepped through carrying something long and thin, in paper packaging.

"Excellent." He said beaming when he spotted Sirius and I standing next to each other. "You both are awake."

I looked back to Sirius, waiting for him to say whatever he wanted to say, but his eyes darted to James and he kept quiet.

"Well it cost me a fortune," James continued holding out the package to me as he crossed the room. "But it's here."

"The broom?" I asked excitedly tearing open the paper and he grinned.

"Yup, top of the line, the latest model. You shouldn't have any problems with it."

"Merlin James," I said looking at its polished handle and glancing back at my cousin. "Don't get me wrong. I'm really grateful, but you didn't have to go this overboard."

"Nonsense." He said waving this away but looking pleased with himself in spite of this. "You're a Potter, and I'll accept nothing less than the best for my cousin."

I grinned and continued to inspect the broom as James turned to Sirius.

"I know trials aren't for a few hours, but I figured we could get on the pitch a little early and warm up a bit after breakfast. Sound good?"

"Sure." I said with a shrug and Sirius nodded.

We followed him out of the common room and made our way down to the Great Hall, James talking about tactics the whole way.

Forty-five minutes later we were on the pitch running drills.

"You're even better than I remembered." James said in satisfaction as I blocked his latest shot on goal. It was a beautiful day, cool and breezy with lots of sunshine, and I was excited we'd get to spend a fair bit of it flying.

"It's the new broom." I said smirking and he laughed.

"Looks like you've found yourself a new keeper already James," said a voice and we all looked down to see a tall, attractive boy with neat brown hair looking up at us, his hand shading his eyes. "Are you sure you still need to hold trials?"

"What's up Sean?" James said as we all dismounted and walked over to the new comer. "Becca, this is Sean Bloom. He's the Hufflepuff quidditch captain. Sean, this is my cousin Becca."

"Oh believe me, I'm aware of who she is." He said giving me a good-natured smile, and I saw his eyes were an attractive amber color. "Everyone knows about you new girl."

Sirius looked irritated at this comment, but only I seemed to notice.

"I hope I live up to the expectation." I said grinning and Sean laughed. Now that I saw him up close, I recognized him from a few of my classes.

His smile grew but he glanced at James before saying.

"I'm not dumb enough to answer that in front of your cousin." He then turned to James and said. "I was wondering if I could trade some practices slots with you. We're having some cross over with the Transfiguration club with ours."

"Sure." James said dismounting from his broom. "What days were you looking at?"

The two walked off still discussing the practice times leaving Sirius and I alone. I glanced in his direction to see his eyes were already on me.

"Well," I said a little disconcerted. "Want to keep practicing?"

"Sure." He said his tone hard to place.

I noticed he looked uncomfortable, and I suddenly remembered the last time we'd been alone together, earlier this morning.

"Didn't you say you wanted to talk to me about something?" I asked him and he looked at me for a second before clearing his throat and saying.

"Yeah." He glanced in James's direction before saying. "Can you come with me for a second?"

"Come with you?" I repeated a little confused and he nodded.

"Just for a second." He said gesturing towards the team room at the end of the pitch.

I frowned but followed him as he walked in its direction, wondering what this was all about.

He waited until the door was closed before he spoke, but the moment it did, they came out in a rush.

"Why didn't you tell me about your parents?" he asked and I looked at him a little confused.

"What?"

"Your parents." He continued his tone insistent. "They're just like mine, aren't they?"


	5. Chapter 5

Spov

Becca's face went pale and fear replaced the confusion in her eyes as they met mine.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said looking quickly away from me.

"Don't give me that Becca."

"We, we shouldn't talk about this here." She said trying to push past but I caught her arm as she tried to make it out the door.

"Don't touch me!" she almost shouted turning on me reaching for her wand but I caught that arm too.

"Does James know?" I asked.

"Know what?" she snarled trying to break free of my grip. "Let go of me."

"About your parents." I said refusing to let her go.

"This isn't your business." She muttered but quickly bringing anger to her defense. "What makes you think that my parents-"

"I saw the letter Becca." I said and her eyes snapped back to mine.

"You what?" she asked quietly.

"It fell out of your bag as you left breakfast yesterday." I said a little guiltily as fury hardened in her eyes.

"And you thought you'd just go ahead and read it?" she asked viciously.

"Only because I thought something was going on with you." I retorted as she finally managed to pull free of me. "Something you weren't telling James, and I was right wasn't I?" I asked following her as she tried to make it to the door. "He doesn't know does he?"

She turned back to me her expression angry, but her eyes calculated.

"This is so not your business."

"Cut the crap Becca. Your parents, they're just like mine aren't they?"

"Sirius, I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"Well you'd better start explaining something otherwise the first thing I'm doing is going to James."

"Why do you care?" she asked bitterly and I felt a pang of fury go through me.

"Why do I-" I started but cut myself off when I realized it was my voice that was rising now. "Why do I care?" I continued lowering my voice but anger still seeping through my tone and she winced. "Becca, this is serious. If your parents are pureblood fanatics then you've got to get out of that house."

"Will you shut up?"

"Explain what's going on. Now."

She didn't answer, only glared at me as I continued to press.

"This is how you knew my cousin isn't it?" I asked. All the pureblood families knew each other, at least all of the families that were like ours.

She didn't respond, but the look on her face was as good as a confession.

"Merlin Becca." I said in frustration, kicking a rubbish bin and sending it into the wall before turning to face her. "If you're involved with people like Bellatrix, if they think you're a blood traitor. Do you realize how dangerous that is?"

She remained silent.

"Why didn't you tell someone?" I snapped. "Why didn't you tell James? Hell, why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you?" she asked incredulously, finding her voice at last. "Tell you?" she repeated with a humorless laugh. "Why would I tell you anything? You didn't want anything to do with me!"

"I-" I started but felt a swell of shame go through me as she continued to glare. "This is different." I said in frustration trying to defend myself. "I know things haven't always been the best between us but if you'd just said something. I know what it's like-"

"Sirius I tried to tell you!" she said looking at me and behind her fury, I saw pain. "Merlin Sirius why do you think I was so obsessed with you?" she asked bitterly. "Why do you think I was always following you around?"

"I," I started, feeling as if I'd been clobbered by a troll. "I thought-"

"Thought that I was obsessed with my cousin's attractive best friend. Just like all the girls who go after you." She let out a scoff. "You are so full of yourself."

My stomach sank as I thought back to all the times I'd run into Becca at James's house. How many times I'd brushed her off when she wanted to talk to me. How annoying I'd thought she'd been when she'd followed me around. How I'd pushed her away. The only other person who'd had any idea about what I'd been going through, and I just shut her out. Just like everyone in my family had done to me.

"Why didn't you tell James?" I asked still not understanding, trying not to let the guilt that was clawing through me consume me. I couldn't think about it, it was too much.

"What makes you think I'm going to talk about this with you?" she asked her tone hostile.

"Do you want me to go to him myself?" I asked and she glowered at me, but I knew I'd won.

"When did all this start?" I asked. "How were you able to keep this away from him?"

She hesitated, and it took a little while, but eventually, she spoke.

"It wasn't that hard." She said shrugging but not meeting my eyes. "When we were kids, we weren't really aware of the contention between our parents. It wasn't until we were about ten when my parents realized James well, he wasn't exactly the influence they wanted on their daughter."

"Meaning a decent person." I growled.

"Yeah." She said flatly. "They hoped that if I saw him less, well, as they put it, his 'pro muggleborn' leniencies wouldn't rub off on me."

"So they sent you to different schools." I said and she nodded.

"They couldn't stop us sending letters though, and they let me see him on holidays until, well…"

"What?" I asked frowning, wondering why she looked a little guilty.

"Well, they already weren't happy when they found out he fancied Lily, she's a muggleborn, but it wasn't until you ran away that they tried to cut off all contact."

"Me? Why?"

"Think about it Sirius." She said quietly. "Why'd you run away?"

It was my turn to hesitate. Deep down I knew exactly why people like Becca's parents wouldn't want her going to James's house if someone was like me around, but I didn't want to admit it. She was right, I was everything they were afraid their daughter would turn into.

"They were worried about the blood traitor that lived there." I said softly, and I heard anger and bitterness in my tone.

She nodded and suddenly it made sense, why after I'd moved in with the Potters, I'd never seen her. Why things had between distant between them before she'd switched schools.

But something about the situation seemed wrong. If this was the truth, what was Becca doing here at Hogwarts? Where both James and I were. If they'd sent her to another school specifically to avoid James, why on earth would they allow her to come to Hogwarts now?

"You didn't decide to come to Hogwarts just to be closer to James, did you?" I asked and she gave me a look so dark, I almost couldn't believe it was Becca in front of me. "You did something. Something that forced you here."

Eventually, she nodded.

"What was it?"

"That's not your business."

"Becca, just tell me."

"Why should I?"

"Because I can help you." I said indignantly. "James can help you! You need to get out of that house, away from your parents and-"

"You aren't telling James anything." She said and I saw once again her expression was so dark, so angry, I couldn't believe this was the same girl who used to follow me around James's house, practically begging for my attention.

"Becca, we can help you." I said quietly.

"I didn't ask for your help." She said stiffly. "And I'm not getting James involved, so you can just keep your nose out of my letters."

"But-"

"But nothing Sirius." she said real fury in her voice now. "You didn't care back then and you don't get to care now. And I can tell you one thing," her eyes met mine, and they were hard. "Whatever you think I did to get me landed at Hogwarts, if you go running to James, it will happen to you."

"What did you do Becca?" I asked quietly.

"Why don't you ask your cousin?" she spat. "If you care that much."

Then she turned on her heel and stormed out of the team room, not bothering to look back at me.

I watched her go in a state of shock, unable to believe what I was seeing. Gone was the sensitive little girl that had so annoyed me whenever she was at James's. What had happened to her? What had happened to Becca to make her like this?

I wasn't sure how long I stood there, but eventually, the door opened again and James poked his head into the team room.

"There you are Padfoot. I was starting to get worried." He said looking relieved. "Get a move on, trials start in five minutes."

"Yeah, right." I said shaking my head and following him out of the team room back on to the pitch.

"What were you doing in there anyways?" he asked.

I hesitated for a minute, wondering if I should tell James what I knew, but I remembered the fury in Becca's eyes and her threat.

"Nothing." I said eventually and he gave me a suspicious look but didn't follow up.

I wasn't afraid of Becca, but I wouldn't put it passed her to try and convince James that I was lying. And if it came down to it, it would be her word against mine. I wasn't sure which one of us James would believe.

But one thing was certain. I didn't care what she said and I didn't care if Becca didn't want my help. I might not have been there for her years ago, but I would be now. I wasn't going to let what happened to me happen to her. Not if I could help it, but I needed to know the whole story before I went to James. I needed to know what happened that got her sent to Hogwarts in the first place.


End file.
